[DCART] ARES SEC Monthly Report (FSD-96)

[Dick Flanagan]

ARES SEC Monthly Report (FSD-96)

1. Section: Nevada (NV)

2. Month: July

3. Year: 2007

4. Total ARES members: 332 Reported

5. Changes since last month: +4

6. Number of active nets: 13

7. Total Sessions: 67

8A. Number of ECs/DECs reporting this month: 3 DEC's/8EC's

9A. Number of nets, drills, tests & training sessions: 81

9B. Number of volunteer hours: 861

10A. Number of public service events this month: 8

10B. Number of volunteer hours: 369.5

11A. Number of emergency operations this month: 2

11B. Number of volunteer hours: 138

12A. Total number of ARES/RACES events this month: 91

12B. Total volunteer hours: 1409

Northwest District I DEC: Reported

Carson City: Reported

Churchill County: Reported

Douglas County: Reported

Humboldt County: Not Reported

Lyon County: Not Reported

Mineral County: No EC

Pershing County: Not Reported

Storey County: Not Reported

Washoe County: Reported

Northeast District II DEC: Reported

Elko County: Reported

Eureka County: No EC

Lander County: No EC

White Pine County: No EC

Southern District III DEC: Reported

Clark County: Reported

Esmeralda County: Not Reported

Lincoln County: Reported

North Nye County: Reported

South Nye County: Reported

Comments: SEC's GENERAL REPORT (May 2007) 73 from Don KQ6FM SEC. July 
was a fairly quiet month, except for the many standbys due to a 
horrendous fire season this year. The Northeast District saw one of 
the largest fires in the nation's history, which meant our folks were 
sitting on pins and needles with breath held for a long period. 
Toward the end of the month though, much of this activity was winding 
down thank God! It is a good time to remind everyone to stay prepared 
and to be ready, because the season is not over yet.

Several events going on which used our support in July, and from what 
I have heard, kudos to all who participated on a job well done.

SM, Dick Flanagan K7VC made the trek (or flight) to Las Vegas to 
visit the quarterly ARES/RACES meeting. I plan on attending the next 
one in October.

I enjoyed working a Washoe County Ride For The Red in support of the 
ARC, which went very well. Thanks to Bruce Wade, N7ZA, AEC to Reno 
ARC for helping to put this together, and a great job as NCS.

These events help us to stay sharp, and everyone is encouraged to do 
several each year if at all possible. Try getting some of the newer 
folks to take a hand at being NCS. With some coaching and with help 
from some of the seasoned Elmers , we can help develop these skills. 
Have a great month and 73 De Don Carlson, KQ6FM, SEC.

SOUTHERN DISTRICT REPORT: Southern NV ARES DEC Report July 07. It was 
a busy month with ARES/RACES meetings, and SKYWARN activations. 
Monsoonal moisture arrived during the typical time of the year and 
SKYWARN groups were active reporting significant weather from Tonopah 
to Las Vegas. New coordination efforts are underway to improve 
exchanging information between neighboring counties in the CWA.

Northern Nye Co. ARES Report by EC, Dave KE7LC Skywarn activation 
conducted with Reno NWS: 2, Fire assistance standby: 1 (brush/forest 
fires), Western Nevada Noon Net: 2 Also Tonopah ARC meeting (not 
recorded above): Discussion on establishment of Packet Node in 
Tonopah and future experimentation on 6 meters.

Southern Nye Co. ARES Report by EC, Jerry KC6ILH. Well I can take the 
picture of a Rain Drop down from my wall. We had about two tenths of 
an inch from a nice rain fall event. No fires and no flooding. Had 
some wind prior to the rain, however, once it started to fall the 
wind went away. Back to normal weather again, hot and dry. Still high 
fire danger and we are starting in to the monsoon season so flooding 
will be on the list of things to watch out for. Nothing else to 
report this time, see all next month.

Lincoln Co. ARES Report by EC, Lee K7NKH - Meeting with Lincoln Co. 
Sheriff and county commission this month. More later.

Clark County ARES/RACES Report by EC, Charlie AA5QJ - Memorandum of 
Understanding signed with the City of North Las Vegas to provide them 
with backup radio communications. Vern K0EGA, AEC 
Operations/Training, attended a planning meeting for the Southern 
Nevada Health District POD exercise on Aug 24 in Henderson and Primm.

The quarterly ARES/RACES Meeting was held Jul 28 with 40 members in 
attendance. Dick Flanagan K7VC, NV Section Manager, flew down and 
joined us for the meeting, briefing on EMCOMMWEST and current ARRL 
updates. Several members provided safety communications for the 16 
hour Lake Mead Night Adventure Race Jul 28-29

NORTHEAST DISTRICT REPORT: The Elko Amateur Radio Club provided 
emergency communications for the gamblers' Run, high speed open road 
race north of Elko on Saturday July 14. They utilized the W7LKO 
147.300 mhz. repeater which is part of the Club's extensive linked 
repeater network and the 2-meter remote base as well as the linked 
commercial repeater system for safety communications. No accidents 
occurred during the race.

A large wildland fire threatened the town of Winnemucca early in 
July. Joe Giraudo, NE NV DEC received a call that a Red Cross shelter 
was being opened to accommodate families evacuated from their homes 
on the south side of the city. This fire was also threatening 
critical infrastructure including power and telephone lines. Due to 
this threat, the Elko Amateur Radio Club connected their IRLP-capable 
W7LKO 444.95 repeater to their hard-linked 2-meter repeater system to 
facilitate communications between Winnemucca and the Reno area by way 
of the IRLP western reflector 9258. Elko hams monitored the system 
throughout the night in case communications issues arose within the system.

This was the first time the two systems had been interconnected and 
with a the exception of a few minor technical issues, the test went 
extremely well. Due to terrain shielding, communications were not 
possible from the shelter site, but were available on the northern 
side of Winnemucca. The system was not needed, but was there should 
the need have arisen. Communication options for this community are 
being explored by the Elko Amateur Radio Club since there currently 
is not an active repeater that can talk out of the area.

Fires ravaged the northeastern portion of the state in July. These 
fires measured in the thousands of square miles. Evacuations were 
made of several remote communities and ranches. Power was interrupted 
for an extensive time to several communities including Mtn. City and 
the Owahee Indian Reservation. Public Safety communications were 
interrupted and the Amateur Radio community was consulted to see if 
they could be of assistance. Due to the fact that there was extreme 
fire behavior and a lack of escape routes, limiting the ability to 
safely provide a service, the decision was made to err on the side of 
personnel safety not to deploy.

The Saturday morning HF Section Net continued through the month. 
Propagation has remained surprisingly good, while not as good as 
winter, the 75 meter band is still usable at net time. Participation 
is off a little due to summertime demands on members time.

NORTHWEST DISTRICT REPORT: Churchill County - EC Paul Willcoxon 
KE7CRZ - Our monthly meeting was held July 7th in Fallon. It was our 
pleasure to have Ed "Otto" Tune-KV7J and Cynthia Bagley-KB7BZE attend 
the meeting. We welcomed their attendance and hope to have them both 
attend again. The exercise for the group was scheduled for July 28th 
and simulated a large earthquake east of Fallon. The following 
stations participated in the exercise: Bob Moore-AD7CP, KE7CRZ-Paul 
Willcoxon, K6GAF-Gary Fahl, KC7ORU-Patrick McCartin III, KX7B-John 
Hughes, KD7TRT-Judy Nay, KD7UKX, Everett Nay, KD7ZPP, Mark Beadle.

Special thanks go out to Ed Otto Tune, for taking the time to work 
with us from Carson City and accept traffic from the Churchill County 
EOC which was activated for the exercise. This is the first exercise 
for the group in quite a while and was an excellent example of good 
emergency communications procedures. Everyone was enthusiastic and 
performed exceptionally well. Mark-KD7ZPP acted as net control and 
Patrick-KC7ORU was operating from the EOC and both did an excellent 
job and were kept quite busy.

There were some small problems, however, all traffic was sent and 
received accurately and the problems have been resolved. Thanks to 
all who participated for a job well done!

Carson City/Douglas County - EC Dick Young KD7JMR - Our primary 
public service event this month was participation by 13 ARES members 
supporting the well known "Death Ride". Average time by the 
membership was 9 hours of active radio communications, with the 
longest time being 16.5 hours. The "Death Ride" is a gruelling bike 
ride of 129 miles in the Sierra Nevada range in Alpine County, 
requiring climbing of over 15,000 feet. This ride, for 3300 bikers, 
could not be accomplished without the health and welfare reports 
provided by Amateur Radio, primarily ARES members.

Washoe County - EC Bob Miller WA6MTY - On July 14th, Kevin Marriott 
KE7BQX transmitted ATV pictures two locations south of Reno up to the 
Regional EOC as we are doing field tests to show the EOC director the 
effectiveness of ATV for damage assessment.

14. Signature: Don Carlson, KQ6FM - SEC

15. E-mail: kq6fm at charter.net
--
Dick Flanagan K7VC NV SM
k7vc at arrl.org